An e-mail newsletter for and about Waverly people, used with permission in the HLW Herald and on this web site.

Dec. 30, 2002

The holiday season is among us

Dear readers,

I worked with Father Mele when he was a Navy Chaplain
stationed in Corpus Christi.

He sent me this for Christmas, recalling a memory of Albuquerque
I can share with you.

My niece Mary O'Leary Sloan, John and Jean's daughter,
lives in Albuquerque with her two daughters, Fiona and Maeve, so I saw
what he saw when I was in Albuquerque, but I was unable to put it into
words. I am glad he did.

Jim O'Leary

______________________

"In the historic heart of Albuquerque, now called
Old Town, low adobe buildings stand facing a common ground, the original
town square.

Each year on Christmas Eve their flat roofs are lined
with luminaria: small brown paper bags, each weighted with sand and holding
a burning candle, whose light glows golden against the midnight sky.

"Standing in the center of Old Town Square on this
silent and holy night, one is surrounded by a halo of light. It is a beacon
for the lost, beauty for the brokenhearted, comfort to those chilled by
grief or guilt or shame.

"In the deepest part of the night, the light embraces
all who gather outside the door of the church and await the dawn of redeeming
grace.

"When Christmas day is dawning, there is no need
of glowing luminarias. The buildings of Old Town are pink with morning
light, all darkness banished by the advent of the sun.

"Yet, by the light of day we face the truth that
nights of fear remain. We admit that sickness and sorrow still abound,
that some are filled with good things, while others are sent away empty,
that nations are at war, and death knocks always at life's door.

"Into our nights of fear God speaks light. Into the
darkness of death God speaks life. Into a wounded world God speaks Jesus.
We who receive him become children of God, bearing witness to the Light
who comes with grace for all people.

"Like the luminaria, we are illuminated from within
by the presence of Christ. Loving one another with the love we first received
from God, we declare, 'The light shines in the darkness and the darkness
did not overcome it.'

"More than two thousand years after the Light came
into the World, we live in a nation on the verge of war, a nation still
troubled by prejudice and discrimination of untold varieties, and in a
church whose people, clergy, and laity alike, are wounded and wearied.

"As we await the dawn of a new Christmas, can there
be any doubt of the urgent and crying need for the life and light that
only the Lord of Light can lavish upon us?"

Semper Fi!

Fr. Tom Mele

The following is a collection of holiday thoughts and
ideas given to me by friends. I thought you'd enjoy it. Merry Christmas.

Journey of the Magi

"A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter."

And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling

And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices:

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;

With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,

And three trees on the low sky,

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,

And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, and so we continued

And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon

Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This: we were led all that way for Birth or Death? There
was a Birth, certainly,

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen Birth and Death,

But had thought they were different; this Birth was

Hard and Bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

­ T.S. Eliot

My Christmas prayer

May this Christmas be for you the most restless, peace-less
Christmas you've ever known.

I pray that in the dark and quiet early hours of Christmas
morning, you'll find yourself standing all alone, driven nearly to despair,
wondering what Christmas is all about.

Then, and perhaps only then, will the real meaning of
Christmas, the real meaning of God-become-human, truly be born, for your
sake and for the sake of our one, broken, and wounded world.

5. At first sign of clatter from lawn, all personnel will
spring from their beds to investigate and evaluate cause. Immediate action
will be taken to tear open shutters and throw open window sashes.

6. Volunteers are needed to drive one sleigh, miniature,
and eight (8) deer, rein, tiny, for use of Gen. Claus. Driver must have
current roof-top license.

7. Gen Claus will enter all sections through chimneys.
Sections without chimneys will draw a Chimney Simulator from Link Services
for use during ceremonies. Requests must be submitted in triplicate prior
to 20 December.

8. All personnel will be rehearsed in shouting "Merry
Christmas to all, and to all a good night." This shout will be given
upon termination of Gen. Claus' visit. Uniformity of shouting is the responsibility
of all section chiefs.